


Theo’s Worst Crime

by Psychopathic_Nerd54



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Liam’s Worried, M/M, Theo’s Being Emotional, idk I didn’t read over this, just a lot of love, probably some plot holes, whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 06:33:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14785328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Psychopathic_Nerd54/pseuds/Psychopathic_Nerd54
Summary: Liam’s worried about how distant Theo’s been. One night, Theo tells him everything, about how he committed his worst crime yet.And maybe it’s not even a crime.





	Theo’s Worst Crime

**Author's Note:**

> Tbh I really should read back over this but I’m lazy so there’s probably a lot of plot holes but Idek atm tbh..

No one could deny that Liam Dunbar could be a bit of an airhead at times. Sure, his plan-Making abilities were sub-par at best and chemosignals were still a mystery to him. He wasn’t good with emotions, and usually he would be okay with that.

But he was slowly becoming less okay with it, and all because of a certain chimera who was currently taking residence in the guest bedroom in his house.

Theo Raeken was drifting, any blind person could see that, but Liam just couldn’t understand why. 

Liam couldn’t even understand why he cared so much. It was Theo, after all. Emotionless void of a person, snarky and sarcastic, irritating as all hell Theo. Liam has punched him more times than he cares to count, and is completely and inexplicably drawn to hate the guy with everything in him. 

But, then again, it was Theo. His housemate. His best friend (besides Mason, of course). The person he brought in (rather forcefully, Theo didn’t really have much of a choice) upon finding out he was living in his truck.

Theo: Liam’s anchor. 

But Theo seems to have been avoiding Liam lately, and when he’s not, it’s all vacant expressions and conflicting chemosignals. It’s causing Liam to worry, big time.

So maybe that’s what brought Liam to Theo’s bedroom door one night when he couldn’t sleep. Maybe it was the erratic heartbeat coming from this particular room. Hell, maybe Liam was sleepwalking and just somehow ended up waking just as he was about to knock on this door. Whatever it was, he was here, and he wasn’t about to turn away.

So Liam knocked once.

Twice.

Three more times.

“Theo?” The young werewolf spoke quietly, fully aware the chimera could hear him. “Can we talk?”

A few more minutes of nothing but heavy silence came from the room. The only reason Liam knew Theo hadn’t jumped out the window and ran was the already fast heartbeat that seemed to speed up at the knowledge of Liam’s presence. The werewolf wanted nothing more than to calm it, steady it out and help Theo see Liam wasn’t here to hurt him, but to help him, even if he could be an insufferable little brat at times. 

Either way, Liam waited, trying to give Theo his space. He waited, knowing the chimera know he was there, just waiting.

But soon, Liam grew impatient of that, as he does with most things, and quickly slipped into the room.

He was about to confront Theo, he really was, he had planned a bit of a speech in his wait. He couldn’t tho. He took one look at Theo, and just froze, his mind blanking completely of everything he thought to say. Instead, he felt his heart fluctuate painfully in his chest. 

Theo sat on his bed, on the edge. It was obvious he had been crying, that he was forcing himself not to now that Liam was here. He looked frustrated, but more so at himself than anything else. He sat on the bed, elbows resting on his knees, and hands gripping at his hair so tightly his fingers were turning white and it looked as if he was trying to pull his hair out. Breathing was short, and his heart was beating so fast Liam was worried he’d collapse.

The werewolf wasn’t sure how to react to this, Theo had always been so masked, only showing the world his emotions made of steel. This was all so much more intimate, and heartbreaking, and so out of character for Theo.

But Liam figured everyone breaks eventually.

Liam slowly and cautiously made his way to the chimera and just sat next to him, close enough to make his presence known, but far enough away he wasn’t in Theo’s space at all. 

Neither said anything for a long time. Liam just wanted to comfort Theo with his presence, and give him time to get himself ready to talk. Liam’s original intent of being here lost completely, he only cared about Theo at this point.

It took what felt like hours to Liam, but was nowhere near, but eventually Theo’s breath started evening out and heart rate slowed. Liam was worried for a second that Theo had passed out, but then his shaking hands slowly lowered from his hair and he opened his eyes, just staring at the ground. 

“Theo..?” Liam tried to get his attention, to get some kind of acknowledgement out of him. What he got was a deep shaking breath. “A-are you—“

“I think it’s damn obvious how okay I am, Dunbar.” Theo’s voice was shaky and raw, and it made Liam snap his mouth shut so fast. 

Another short silence broke through, and Liam couldn’t help but feel helpless. How did people handle these situations so damn well? But then again, Theo is hard to deal with in general, even when he’s acting like his normal, annoying self. 

It wasn’t but another few minutes before Theo let out a frustrated sigh. 

“Is there something you want, Liam?”

Liam was thrown off guard by the question. Did Theo not want the company? Was he overstaying his welcome?

“I- uhh, I couldn’t sleep. Thought we could talk.” Liam spoke sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

“About what?” Theo demanded, turning towards Liam fully and staring at him with cold, intense eyes. It made Liam uneasy how easily and quickly Theo could put that stupid mask back up. Liam wasn’t sure he could go back to emotionless Theo after seeing all this, all these feelings. He wanted to experience more, maybe even something pleasant if at all possible.

Liam hesitated for a moment before answering. “Theo, what’s wrong?” 

With that question, Theo’s expression went completely dark. 

“Leave me alone, Liam.” His voice was steady, intense, and intimidating. Liam couldn’t help the tiny bit of fear that broke through at the look that Theo was giving him, like he crossed some sacred line that was precious to Theo, that he had no right so much as approaching. 

“Theo, I—“

“Out!” Theo practically screamed, causing Liam to jump. But slowly and reluctantly, Liam left Theo’s room, more confused and worried than he was going in.

~~~

The next day at school, Liam couldn’t get a certain chimera off his mind. His worry turned into a certain kind of obsession, one that had everyone asking him if he was alright.

He didn’t think much on it, though. At least, not until lunch, when he was forced to face Mason and Corey about his sudden distractedness and why he didn’t have much of an appetite.

“Alright, what’s going on with you?” Mason asked Liam, frustration clear in his voice and worry showing plain as day on his face. “You’ve been so distracted today.”

Liam didn’t want to hear it, and he really didn’t want to have to explain himself. If it was anyone else, he would have told them to screw off, but this was Mason. Mason would bug him and torture him to the point Liam really just wanted to punch him in the face.

So with that thought, Liam just let out a frustrated sigh.

“It’s Theo.” Is all Liam said. Corey tensed and Mason rested a hand on his shoulder comfortingly, before turning his worried gaze back to Liam.

“What did he do?” Liam could tell Mason was making a conscious effort to keep the threatening tone out of his voice, and it almost made Liam want to laugh. But he didn’t, he couldn’t with his mind wandering back to Theo, as it seemed to be doing.

“He didn’t do anything.” Mason and Corey both gave him disbelieving looks. “Seriously! I’m just worried about him.”

Mason’s expression softened a bit at that, but Corey still looked tense as ever. Liam’s expression was a mixed frenzy of worry and confusion, both of which were directed at his thoughts of Theo and the events of the previous night.

“Does he seem like he’s been acting..weird to you guys lately?” Liam asked quietly.

“He’s Theo, he’s always acting weird.” Corey said blatantly, to which Mason agreed with a nod.

“No, I mean he’s been distant, more so than usual, and like—“ Liam groaned in frustration, running his hands through his hair. “You know what? Never mind. Forget it.” 

Corey and Mason exchanged knowing looks without Liam seeing them. For them it was obvious what was going on in Liam’s mind, but they didn’t know the full story. Liam intentionally let out what had happened the previous night, they didn’t know that Liam saw Theo at his worst. 

They didn’t know the chimera knew how to feel.

And he was certainly able to feel more than anyone thought he could, even Liam. Even himself, really.

~~~ 

It was a good week after the incident, and Liam still hadn’t stopped thinking about it, not fully, at least. He became distracted with school and lacrosse that week and soon didn’t even notice Theo avoiding him. Maybe part of him did, but his mind never acknowledged it happened. 

Until Theo forced it to. 

Liam was woken up one night by frantic knocking on his bedroom door. If Liam had been more awake and it hadn’t been reaching one o’clock in the morning at the time, Liam would have been more worried and less grumpy upon opening the door. Instead, the werewolf groaned as he rolled (quite literally) out of bed and grumbled his way to the door. 

Liam had full intent of glaring at the person on the other side, full intent of letting his annoyance take over, if it wasn’t for the sight he was greater with on the other side that woke him up better than any alarm clock ever could. 

Theo was on the other side, looking more broken than Liam had ever seen him. Just disheveled and broken, even as he tried to mask it. But Liam still saw it, he would have to be a complete idiot to not see it, everything about him just screamed pain, and it only made Liam feel bad about not paying Theo much attention the past week.

“Theo!” Liam exclaimed in surprise. 

“Can we talk?” Theo asked hurriedly, like if he didn’t ask right then, he would never have, and maybe that was the truth. Theo is not one to open up to people, and Liam was surprised he was actually coming to him. 

“Of course.” 

Theo pushed his way inside, practically slamming the door shut, and running a frantic hand through his hair. All Liam could do was watch him and wait for him to say something.

Eventually, Theo just sat on the edge of Liam’s bed, letting out a deep sigh.

“I did something horrible, Liam.” Theo said softly. It was so quiet that Liam would have heard it if he didn’t have advanced hearing, and he was see Theo was hoping he didn’t hear it. But he did, and he just walked over to sit next to him on the bed. “The worst thing I’ve ever done.”

“Worse than all that shit the doctors forced you to do? Worse than tricking me into almost killing Scott so you could take the powers?” Liam watched as a single tear fell from Theo’s eyes, clearly letting the bad memories break through, mixing and conflicting with whatever the current ones were. He wanted to reach over and wipe it away, but he didn’t want to overstep his boundaries again so he stayed still, just staring.

“So much worse.” Theo let his eyes fall closed and Liam couldn’t help but be surprised at how much the chimera was letting out, how much he was letting Liam actually see. But maybe Liam was being an idiot by being so shocked by it. 

“What could possibly be worse than that?” Liam asked. He didn’t mean for it to sound harsh, but it came out that way. Theo flinched at the question, and Liam would have apologized if it wasn’t for his currently curiosity overpowering everything.

Theo stayed quiet for a moment, clearly weighing his options, debating the risks of telling Liam what he had done, and Liam couldn’t help but feel bad.

All of a suddenly, Theo looked up, looking Liam directly in the eye as he said the next few words.

“I fell in love with you.”

Liam felt the world come to a stop around him as the two stared at each other. It all made sense all of a sudden, the lingering stares, the glares when Liam would catch him. The fact Theo had been ignoring him, the true reason behind it, the chemosignals he couldn’t identify for the life of him. 

Why Theo kept putting Liam’s life over his own, like he didn’t matter. Like Liam was so much more important than him, like he was only living to risk his life. 

To risk his life for Liam.

And Liam never noticed how he felt. 

And yet, Liam would be lying if he said he hadn’t grown to feel the same about Theo. 

“Theo, it’s not crime to fall in love.” Liam said, reassuringly, placing a hand in Theo’s knee. “And it should in no way be treated like one.”

“But it is a crime for me to fall in love.” Theo argued, sending a glare Liam’s way.

“You’re allowed to be happy, Theo! You’re allowed to let love in your life.”

“You don’t understand, Liam.” Theo stood up suddenly, making his way to the door. “I’m wasting my time.”

Liam, jumped up as well, all but grabbing Theo and locking him in the room. “Then help me understand. Don’t walk away again, you can’t just drop that on me and leave!”

Theo turned abruptly, anger clear and present, covering all of Theo’s features. 

“What do you want me to say, Liam? That I love you and everything will be perfect and we can go on our merry ways and live happily ever after together?” Theo stormed over to Liam suddenly, grabbing his wrist. “Life doesn’t work like that, this isn’t a fairy tale.” 

Theo’s features turned soft suddenly, placing Liam’s hand on his own chest, just over his heart. “You feel that, Liam? That heart isn’t mine, it’s Tara’s. I killed her, I stole it from her chest, and now I have to live with the constant reminder of that every time this heart beats. I fell in love with you with a heart that’s not mine, I’m giving you what I stole and that is my crime. That is the worst thing I have ever done.”

Theo dropped Liam’s wrist, once again heading for the door. His hand rested on the doorknob, Theo turned back once more, giving Liam a sad smile.

“That is why I can’t love you.”

Liam couldn’t think, he could barely feel his own body or register his own actions as he moved to grab Theo from leaving. He pulled the chimera away from the door, using all the strength he could muster. This was his moment, it was now or never, and he barely knew what he was doing.

All he knew was he was suddenly face to face with Theo Raeken, the man who wants to walk out of his life after confessing his feelings, mere inches apart, and barely thinking as he spoke the words he desperately needed to say.

“You’re such an idiot, you know that?” That seemed to throw Theo off guard a bit, but Liam continued on. “I may not be a biology nerd, but I know this: your heart is only an organ. It’s a glorified organ that pumps blood to the rest of your body, it’s not what makes you love, it’s what keeps you alive. You falling for me has nothing to do with Tara’s heart. You’re not in the wrong for loving me, you’re not creating a vendetta of sorts against your dead sister because of your feelings.”

Liam rested his hand against Theo’s chest once more, just above the heart. 

“You know what I feel? A heart that is purely you, not Tara. This heart is no less you than anything else in your body. Besides, it’s your brain that makes you who you are, your brain decides what you love, the rest of you is just what keeps your brain running, and protecting it from the world. This heart doesn’t dictate you, you dictate you, and that’s the reason you don’t feel like you can love me. But let me tell you, you can. You’re allowed to love me.”

Liam lifted the hand that was on Theo’s chest, resting it on his cheek, feeling the light scruff and soft skin, a complete contrast with each other.

“Especially since I love you too.”

It was Theo who initiated it, much to Liam’s surprise, but he wouldn’t complain. The kiss was magical. It was desperate, longing, and a little bit salty due to the tears leaking steadily from Theo’s eyes. It was still sweet and romantic, though. It showed the love the two held better than anything else could. 

And no one else got to witness it, the kiss was purely for the two of them, and no one else. 

And that’s how it stayed for the rest of their lives.


End file.
